Poland
Jewish Government

Metal, fiber
1985
Length: 4.88; Width of Pin: 1.63 in
Other – Symbolism

The Auschwitz Cross was instituted on  March 14, 1985.  It is a Polish decoration awarded to honor survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi German concentration camps, including Auschwitz, a German name for the Polish town Oświęcim, where the camps were built by Nazi Germans. 

The order was generally awarded to Poles, but it was possible to award it to foreigners in special cases and posthumously. The Auschwitz Cross ceased to be awarded in 1999.

The award is a silver Greek cross. The obverse shows barbed wire and fence posts; embossed with the year 1939 on the left, and 1945 on the right arm. A large red triangle with the letter P in the center indicates, the badge was worn by a Polish prisoner. The reverse is embossed ‘RP [Republic of Poland] Wiezniom / Hitlerowskich / Obozow koncentracyjnych’ [Prisoners of Hitler’s concentration camps].’ The decoration is suspended by an alternating light and dark blue striped ribbon, evoking the striped camp uniforms worn my prisoners.

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_Cross